Stormont parties demand fairer benefits system for terminally ill
Press release published
Seven Stormont parties have issued a joint demand for a fairer benefits system for terminally ill people in Northern Ireland.
It comes as a cross-party inquiry from MPs in Westminster today (3 July 2019) found that the rules determining fast-track access to benefits like Universal Credit and PIP for terminally ill people aren’t fit for purpose.
Terminally ill claimants can get fast-tracked access to benefit payments without going through the usual assessments, but only if they can prove they have less than six months to live. Representatives of the DUP, Sinn Féin, SDLP, UUP, Alliance Party, Green Party and People Before Profit called on the Department for Communities to introduce a more compassionate system in Northern Ireland, after the inquiry from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Terminal Illness found that many dying claimants are having to fight for financial support and wait months to receive their benefits.
The parties described the current system as a “cruel” and “inhumane” way to treat people who are approaching the end of their lives.
Marie Curie and the Motor Neurone Disease Association have been campaigning for the six-month rule to be scrapped and replaced with a new system based on clinical judgement, as has recently been adopted in Scotland. This would leave it up to doctors to determine when a patient is terminally ill and therefore eligible to apply for fast-track access to benefits.
Joan McEwan, Head of Policy and Public Affairs for Marie Curie Northern Ireland, said:
“The difficulty in accurately predicting life expectancy for terminally ill people is resulting in many of these claimants falling outside of the fast-track process, meaning they have to go through distressing benefit assessments, fill in complicated forms and wait months to get the welfare payments they are entitled to. This is cruel, lacking in compassion and needs to change.”
DUP MLA Carla Lockhart said:
“When a loved one is ill undue pressures such as financial matters can increase worry during a stressful period. To expect those who have received the news that they are terminally ill to come with a begging bowl because they do not meet stringent criteria is not acceptable. For many people a terminal illness is not limited to a six-month period and indeed meeting this criterion can come too late. I have had many constituents in this difficult and often heart-breaking situation. A fairer system to allow those with terminal illnesses to have a sense of dignity and compassion is sadly lacking as a result of the current criteria in the PIP process.”
Sinn Féin Welfare Spokesperson Alex Maskey MLA said:
“There are many things wrong with the current welfare system, including the cuts agenda which is being imposed by the British Government, but the six-month rule is one of the worst aspects in that it adds trauma and uncertainty to people who are already facing a tragic prognosis. The criteria should be extended to all those who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness so that they do not have to face lengthy delays for their entitlements. Sinn Féin has urged the Department for Communities to address this issue urgently and will continue to support the campaign until this is resolved.”
SDLP Social Justice Spokesperson Nichola Mallon MLA said:
“No-one with a terminal illness should spend the precious time they have left going through the intrusive benefits assessment process and left to worry for months about the decision. At such a vulnerable point in their lives they deserve to be treated with great dignity and compassion. The arbitrary six-month rule is cruel and should be scrapped.”
UUP MLA Roy Beggs said:
“A diagnosis of a terminal illness is traumatic to anyone in their family. There will normally be considerable financial pressures due to medical appointments and difficulties in working. The current Personal Independent Payment process is daunting to anyone claiming for the first time without support. There is a need for a more compassionate system that removes the red tape and bureaucracy for those who have been given a terminal diagnosis and I would urge both the DWP and the Department for Communities to be more flexible with the current six month rule.”
Alliance Party MLA Paula Bradshaw said:
“This is another example of how implementation of welfare reform has treated people as statistics rather than human beings. We already have a perfectly good alternative model in use in Scotland and that should be adopted for Northern Ireland, and indeed the whole of the UK, without delay.”
Green Party MLA Steven Agnew said:
“We need a compassionate social security system that supports citizens in their time of greatest need. The current rules relating to those who are terminally ill are inhumane and should be reformed to ensure that those at the end of life are fast tracked and do not suffer unnecessary stress or hardship.”
People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll said:
“The fact that people who are terminally ill need a statement from their doctor or medical professional to confirm they have six months to live before they get fast tracked through the benefits system is deplorable. The fact that somebody who has seven months or a year to live will still have to go through the rigmarole of applying for benefits is nothing short of barbaric. The last thing people want or need if they are terminally ill is to have to worry about application forms, mandatory reconsiderations or appeals. There is consensus across most political parties and most people who assist people on benefits that this policy has to change. I am therefore calling on the department for Communities to implement this change and spare terminally ill people having to go through this degrading system.”
The inquiry report from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Terminal Illness can be read here: